The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of hybrid Baptisia plant, botanically known as Baptisia ‘Blue Towers’ and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘Blue Towers’. The new cultivar represents a new false indigo, a hardy herbaceous perennial grown for landscape and cut flower use.
The new invention arose from an ongoing breeding program at a nursery in Raleigh, N.C.
Baptisia ‘Blue Towers’ was hybridized by Tony Avent in April of 2003 at a nursery in Raleigh, N.C. and originally given the breeder code of #2004-157. The female or seed parent was a proprietary selection of Baptisia australis (not patented) and the male or pollen parent was a proprietary selection of Baptisia alba (not patented). The instant plant was initially selected for further evaluation in spring 2005. The goals of the hybridizing program have been to develop Baptisia hybrids with improved garden-worthy characteristics and tall upright habit and flowers visible well above the foliage. ‘Blue Towers’ was selected as a single unique plant by the inventor in 2005 and first asexually propagated by stem cuttings in May 2008 at the same nursery in Raleigh, N.C. The novel characteristics of ‘Blue Towers’ have since been determined to be stable and reproduce true to type in successive generations of asexually propagated plants.